Pa. officials say winter storm won't hinder vaccine distribution

Severe winter weather Wednesday won’t delay covid-19 vaccine shipments in Pennsylvania, state officials said, as more shipments of the vaccine arrived at hospitals across the commonwealth.

“We’re not making changes (to distribution) according to the forecast, but we will make changes if the weather turns out to force us to make those changes,” Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday during a virtual press conference.

The National Weather Service says the coming storm could blast the central and eastern parts of the state and drop more than a foot of snow. Southwestern Pennsylvania will be on the edge of the storm, and the region could see five or more inches.

Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said his agency is working with the state Department of Health and Operation Warp Speed representatives to get information on the timing and destination of covid-19 vaccine shipments.

He said a small number of vaccine deliveries were made Monday and Tuesday, and there are seven or eight set for Wednesday. A larger number, he said, are slated for Thursday, though he did not give specific numbers.

About 975 doses arrived at UPMC’s Children’s Hospital on Monday to much pomp and circumstance, and five UPMC employees received the hospital system’s first doses.

Seven more hospitals statewide received doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, including UPMC Presbyterian. In all, 87 Pennsylvania hospitals will receive shipments this week, and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said those hospitals enrolled to be covid-19 vaccine providers.

“The federal government has determined the amount of vaccine and when the vaccine is distributed,” Levine said.

The 87 hospitals will receive a combined 97,500 doses of the vaccine by Monday, she said. Philadelphia on its own will receive 13,650 initial doses in a separate distribution plan.

Padfield said contingency plans are in place to handle vaccine shipments in the face of winter weather, specifically by working with other state and local agencies as well as PennDOT.

“I think the key is once we know where it’s coming into the state … and where it needs to go, we can actually work to be able to execute that,” he said. The timing, delivery and destination of vaccine shipments comes from the federal government.

The most helpful thing residents can do, officials said, is to avoid going out, particularly in winter weather.

“When fewer people are on the road during a winter storm, emergency personnel can work faster and they can do their jobs more safely,” Wolf said.